Still Capable
by Yin Niy
Summary: Light resolves to put the world out of its misery once he takes notice of the rotting planet, and he doesn't need a death note to do it either. Just a few loyal followers, a plan, and he already has incentive. But why does a certain detective make his decision waver? Will eventually contain yaoi, yuri, hetero, and dark themes.


**Story: Still Capable**

**Full Summary: Light Yagami realizes the world around him rotting, so he begins to take the initiative and decides to do something about it. First he'll need some loyal minions, the material tools, and he already has the motive. First he has to save an uprising model who just might come in handy in the future. **

**Word count: 4, 341**

**Rating: T**

**Tags: Crime, Family, Humour, Suspense, Near-Canon, AU (Alternate Universe)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. **

**Chapter 1: ****71947**

* * *

><p><strong>0127/2010**

_Up and down the streets people were screaming, running, crying, and hiding. Buildings were on fire, crumbling down, and destroyed. Rendered useless. There were no more tree's growing around the city, all of them rotting, drying, crumbling…_

_Dying._

_Everything was dying._

_And things couldn't be more perfect._

_A dark figure turned off the television as they laughed airy breaths. Finally, after years of planning, waiting, and testing… their own perfect world was coming in to view. This world was rotting, and now it was being put out of its misery._

* * *

><p><strong>1128/2003**

Light Yagami looked around the school field in search of the conspicuous black notebook he had witnessed falling from the sky. He was a little surprised that no one had picked it up before him, and he looked around to see if anyone was watching. Last time the school tried to prank him, yes the whole school, it started with a bag of chips, and it ended with three cats and an emptied bottle of pickle juice.

When he was certain that no one was looking his way, and when there were no cameras in sight, he calmly bent down to pick it up. '_First come first serve.'_ Looking across the cover, he saw the English words _'Death Note'_ scrawled at the top.

'_What's this all about_?' Light placed his hand on the front of the cover, but it had gotten snatched out of his hand before he could blink.

"Hey, Light! Thanks for picking up my notebook!" Light looked up to see his friend, Yamamoto, quickly flipping through the pages. "I don't know what I would've done without it!"

Light rose a brow, "_Your_ notebook?" he asked skeptically. He saw with his own eyes that the thing fell from the sky.

Yamamoto grinned sheepishly, "Eh heh, yeah. I was messing with some friends up on the roof and one of them took my book and chucked it for the fun of it. Pretty cruel of them, right?" He placed the book in his backpack and continued, "Anyways, you wanna walk me home?" He joked. Yamamoto lived closer to the school than Light did, and Light's own route home happened to pass by his house.

"Well, I can't exactly let a child walk by himself, now can I?" Light forced a good-natured chuckle out his lips, as he readjusted his own bag and turned face.

The two walked for some time, chattering about little things, such as technology, the upcoming finals, recent news. Light wouldn't call the other a 'friend' but more of a person who knows what they're talking about, and is tolerable enough for company. True, Yamamoto wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, he'd probably be the cheap dirt shovel that was surprisingly durable.

When they got to Yamamoto's house, Light stopped and looked at the other questionably. "So, what's up with '_Death Note_'?"

"Huh? What're you talking about?" He laughed, "Is our schools honor student getting in to the dark arts? That can't be good for your rep."

Light waited for him to finish, "No, that's not it. Your notebook I picked up, the front was 'Death Note' in English, wasn't it?"

The man in question looked to the side with a deep look. He sighed, he looked at Light in complete seriousness. "Light… You see, this Death Note, or Notebook of Death, if you will. Well, um… this is kind of awkward for me, but… uh, you see…" he started mumbling.

"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine." Light waved a hand dismissively.

"Great, I almost confessed that you can talk to the dead through this! Sometimes words will just show up and the names of the dead will appear, then disappear! I've had a pretty good conversation with some girl names Half one time. But this other guy, Frontyard, I think, somehow controlled the notebook and began strangling me with it! The pages had '**Death of SUFFOCATION'** written on it!" Yamamoto exclaimed as wrapped his hands around his own throat and began making motions of struggling.

Light let out a huff, "Hilarious." He continued walking, recalling the reference his classmate was making. The two of them were looking through one of L's minor cases in the past, minor because only three people died, and that particular case were both of their favorites. "I'll see you later, Yama."

"Gah! See…you tomorrow….Arck!" Yamamoto had started dueling with his own hands, fighting back with his mouth. "YOU'LL NEVER STRANGLE ME ALIVE! I have to live for Kyoko! I'll kill you for HER!" more sounds of gargling and battle cries. "You'll never get me, Frontyard!"

Light rolled his eyes as he heard his peer continue his one man show. Even if he was telling the truth, he was strangling himself with his own hands, not by any of the pages of the notebook. Soon he was out of ear shot of the idiot, and he had to wonder for a moment if he had actually strangled himself. No, it was impossible to strangle yourself, you pass out from lack of air then your grip loosens, allowing you to breathe again.

'_Ridiculous, a notebook of death. Why did I even feign interest in it?_' Light thought as he walked in to his house, being greeted by his mother and sister. After getting to his room, he slumped on his bed. '_Death Note… there's something about that name._' Light decided that some research on this 'Death Note' was in order. He'd probably find some sort of website that explained it as a type of chain letter. But "Not before homework." He said to himself as he hopped off the bed and bee line for his desk.

Time passed, and supper time had happened. Light's father wasn't around for dinner, not that he ever really was, but it was something Light always noticed. It was like that empty seat haunted him, and it was empty due to the criminals he heard about every day. The people who make this world a rotten place. The reason for that seat being empty were criminals. Plain and simple.

Light didn't mind that his father worked a lot, he really didn't. It was just frustrating every once in a while that he wasn't there. He assumed it was the same with the two other residents of the house, considering how some nights dad wasn't there, the two were chip and cheerful, while other night's they would sit in silence and sneak glances at the chair. Almost like they believed that if they looked enough times, he would magically appear.

When Light had finished his thoughts and dinner, he promptly went back to his bedroom and locked the door behind him. 'Chain letter research can wait' he deliberated as he began looking through his father's work case files. He clicked on the file that dated a few days ago, the most recent one, and saw that his father was working on a missing person case.

It was a young model from America, and while she was touring in Japan, she disappeared while using the restroom. Strange, expensive restaurants like the one she was last seen don't usually allow suspicious looking people to enter. But there was a note that was left in the bathroom that matched the victim's handwriting. The note was a 'fare well' type of message. Light did some research on the victim and searched for any samples of handwriting he could compare it with. He soon found a handwritten note dated several months back online. The past note, poem more like, was basically about how rotten the world was, how unfair life is, but how there's light within every one of her fans.

'_Someone knows how to feed the fans'_, Light mused as he compared the handwriting, and sure enough, it matched to a T. The witness testimony's explained how the victim seemed to of been recovering well, and hadn't shown any signs of depression in the last few months.

Light sighed, the victim hasn't been seen for three days now, and missing people don't survive 93% of the time past 24 hours. Light remembered when his little sister ran away only half a year ago. The family had been in such a ruckus that dad sprouted fifteen new gray hairs. Light didn't know about his mother, but he assumed she must have, because she had been dyeing her hair much more often nowadays.

Of course, they had found her. Kind of. She called them and explained how she was lost about twenty blocks away, and was starving. Honestly, she ran away with only 500 yen, which is equal to five US dollars. She used it up on the first night for a magazine. When Light asked her why she bought a magazine instead of food, Sayu explained that a magazine had several uses. It could be used as a blanket, cloth, food, toilet paper, and entertainment. She decided not to use to for food, due to the ink on the paper, but it worked well for the other uses.

Light had promptly stopped that line of topic then and there. Honestly, how were the two of them even related? Did she not know the term 'public restrooms'?

Sayu had run away in the first place due to frustration. She didn't explain to anyone in very much detail, but she had told Light, and Light alone, that she felt like their parents wouldn't even notice or look for her. She even admitted that she was disappointed that they hadn't caught her on her way out of town. The young girl was even more down when she had to call them to pick her up. Light assured her that their father nearly had a stroke, and their mother's cooking wasn't the same while she was gone. That didn't seem to convince her any.

* * *

><p><strong>1129/2003**

"When I ran away, I was hoping a rich guy would take me to his house and treat me like a princess. Or even a famous person, like Hideki Ryuuga." She had pouted while in her older brother's room.

The next day Light was still working on his father's case, while reviewing all the evidence and possible suspects. He was half listening to Sayu, and his little sister even knew this. She usually just needed to rant to another live person, whether they were listening or not.

"One, most rich guys are in their forties, and two, I doubt Hideki would just randomly pick you up." Light sighed while scrolling through several fan pages. "And three, they would not treat you like a princess.

Sayu stuck her tongue out, and then peeked over to see what her brother was looking at, "And I doubt you'll ever have a chance with Misa-Misa." She made reference to the missing model that Light was researching. The brunette grabbed one of the pillows off her brother's bed and chucked it at her brother's head. "Take THAT you dream ruiner!" The pillow merely bounced off his head, and plopped to the ground. Sayu didn't feel like reaching over for it, it being too far away, so she settled for grabbing another pillow on the head of the bed for herself to hug while waterfalls fells from her eyes. "Hideki would totally go for me, we just need to meet. If we just met, then he'd totally love me just as much as I love him. Heck, I bet he secretly stalks me as much as I stalk- I-I mean. As much as I _watch_ him. He just doesn't want to make the other girls jealous." Sayu stopped crying at this '_realization_' and blinked a few time.

There was a pause.

"He is **such** a good person!" She shouted with sparkles in her eyes, and a heavy blush on her face as she squealed.

The teen sighed at his younger sister's fantasies. Granted, nearly every teenaged girl had those thoughts from time to time, but those thoughts are what got Amane Misa kidnapped. It was more likely for the kidnapper to be male due to the fact that he was able to carry a model off the scene, but he still had to find some solid evidence that she even was _kidnapped_. The police files had pretty much excluded that possibility, but it was just too obvious for Light. If only he could get on the scene of the crime to look for any more evidence, or sign of struggling.

"Say, Sayu. You-" Light began.

Sayu interrupted him with a sarcastic laugh, "Hardy **har** HAR! Like I haven't heard that one a hundred times, Lighter." She bit out bitterly.

"I said _'say, Sayu. You_-' then you interrupted me. I didn't say _'Sayu, say_ '_you'._" He chuckled. Yes, their parents had a strange affinity for names. The two siblings had teased each other relentlessly when they had learned the basics of English. Granted, _Light_ had more puns to play with, but he was also fluent in English while Sayu was at a gr.3 level.

"Oh," She blushed. "Continue."

"Thanks." He replied with a roll of the eyes. "Anyways, I was going to ask a hypothetical question. If you were to kidnap Hideki Ryuuga, how would you go about it?"

Sayu blinked. "I would get him while he was alone, so while in the restroom or bedroom, so his house I suppose, and knock him unconscious. Either spiking his favorite drink, which is iced tea with lemon by the way, or hitting him on the top left of his head, avoiding his injury on the right side of the head, real hard. But I guess since Ryuuga might be interested in me back, I'd probably ask him how he felt about me before or after he gets caught. If I asked him before hand, then kidnapping might not be necessary, but if I was denied, I'd knock his lights out. And it's probably a given that this would have to be done at night, or maybe a holiday of sorts. To avoid being seen, right? Plus it would be convenient, since he admitted once that he cuts off all ties with paparazzi between 10pm – 8am. Personal time, ya know? But that rule doesn't apply when he goes to parties."

Deep breath.

"Anyways, after knocking him unconscious, I'd take him to my base. So either the basement or my room. But since mom goes in my room nearly every day, it'd have to be the basement. Probably behind the shelves of jarred eggs, since no one would look in that area. About that, why did out neighbors give us so many pickled eggs last month anyways? I swear, they give us the weirdest types of food every month. But back to the plan.

"Tying him up is obvious, just in case he tries to run away. I'd make sure he'd get Stockholm while I held him here, and he should be all mine. I'd convince him he'd be happier with me, and he would change his identity just for us to be together."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"What's with that stare you're giving me? It's not like I actually stole him, just check! He should be working on that new movie right about now. But it _is _five in the afternoon… His bathroom break might've come in early today if he ate any sea food for lunch."

'_Sayu might be the kidnapper.'_ Light thought with a bead of sweat rolling down his concerned face. He made a mental note to check the basement later in the evening, just in case. He doubted his little sister would even be able to execute such a plan on her own, but it didn't exactly hurt to look. "Do I even want to know how you had that... _plan_ on hand?"

The younger girl shrugged, "Internet?"

"Internet can do more and more each day…" he sighed. Heck, he just used the internet to search for _'Amane Misa Fanboys Tokyo'_ and gotten multiple promising results. Plus this was his main source of power. But if Light had to, he bet he could still do cases without the luxury of wifi.

Sayu looked to the ceiling in thought, "Imagine how it'll be in another ten years…"

"You'll probably have blogs on how to kidnap a child and make the parents seem like they gave it to you."

"Hey Light, you should make blogs like that! You'd be super well known on the internet if you did. 'How to get away with murder', 'how to pin the crime on someone else', 'how to give someone ennui', 'how to get that couple across the street in bed with you-"

"Please tell me you don't look for those sort of things."

"I don't look for those sort of things." The thirteen year old repeated immediately with averted eyes.

"Thank you." He sighed, purposely ignoring the obvious.

Two hours later, dinner was ready. Sachiko had received a call from her husband that he would be home for dinner tonight, so she had the family wait at the table right until the moment he got through the door and sat down. The only one who had ever seemed excited for the police officer to be home was his wife. His eldest son never really seemed indifferent either way, and he had a hard time reading his daughter. Sometimes she would get really excited and tell him all about her day, and other times she would avoid all his questions and only talk to her mother and brother.

"So how was your day, Sayu?" He attempted to make conversation when everyone started eating.

Sayu smiled while shrugging, "It was alright. I had lunch with my friend and her older sister today. It was good food, I suppose."

"Oh? Where did you go?"

"The place two blocks away from my school."

"Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, her older sister was in to a lot of the same stuff I am." She jabbed a piece of food in her mouth, "What about you, Light?" directing the conversation and attention on the other child.

Light rolled his eyes at Sayu's obvious '_I'm going to direct the conversation n someone else'_. "Good day all around. I've been studying like crazy, but I plan on taking the weekend off from school work. That's what weekends are for, right?" He smiled. He had made a very subtle implication to his father that he had time to kill. "But what about you, Dad? How's work been going for you?" and he just asked his father if he needed help.

"Light, you really shouldn't be skipping out on your studies." His mother intervened with a worried expression.

Soichiro shook his head, "No, it's fine to take a break once in a while. We don't need another workaholic in the family." He attempted to ease the tension he saw in his two children when Sachiko had objected to the comment.

"Yeah, Mom." Sayu smiled playfully, but with a hint of spite that only Light seemed to notice. Sayu was well aware of how their mother always pushed Light to the fullest, and it honestly angered Sayu to see that. She was the only one who was allowed to push Light in any way, in her books.

"Don't stress yourself out, Dad. We understand that work can be tough." Light said, changing the subject back.

"Yes, and about that..." He hesitated, "I need to have a word with you after dinner, Light."

Light widened his eyes in confusion while he was smirking triumphantly on the inside. "S-Sure, Dad."

* * *

><p>"-and that's all we have on the case so far," Soichiro said as he finishes explaining the missing person case.<p>

Light crossed his legs on the opposite side of the couch from where his father was sitting. He made a small show where he looked as though he were considering all the details and the facts that the police have about the case. Light noticed his father didn't tell him everything, so he made a mental note to be careful not to mention that he knows more than he should. Either his father forgot to mention, or Light did more research than the police.

"Please, Light. Her fans won't stop bothering the police station, and they claim that they won't stop until we have Amane Misa back. Please!" He looked as though he were close to getting on his knees and beg his son to help.

Light widened his eyes as his father's now raised voice. _'Jeez_,' he thought, '_is it the fans of Misa Amane who's keeping Dad busy with work?' _He smiled comfortingly and straightened his back, "From what you told me, I can't help but think that this is a kidnapping case, rather than a missing person case."

"Yes, that's what all her fans are saying too._'Misa-Misa would never leave fans-fans!' 'We want Misa-Misa now found!' 'Misa-Misa has been kidnapped by person who wants her all to himself_!'" Soichiro attempted to make his voice high pitched and squeaky, which succeeded in making his son flinch inwardly, "And really Light, I don't know how much of their shrieking I can take. It seem as though Amane has already made a strong impression on them."

Light chuckled, "You have to admit, considering how she's only been famous for a small amount of time, that's pretty impressive."

"No, kids these days are just easily impressed." He disagreed. "Ugh, if she wanted to be a model, then she has to be prepared to be a role-model as well!"

Light nodded with a smile, feeling some sympathy for the model. It wasn't their fault others were so easily impressed and felt like copying whoever they thought was cool. It varied whether the imposer copied for attention, admiration, or even both.

"ACHOOooo!"

In another part of the world, a strawberry jam scented killer sneezed while sitting outside, listening to his cell mate rattle on about this and that.

"You is not getting sick, is you?"

The dark haired man shook his head as he wiped his nose, "Not at all. Just allergic to bad speech."

"No one's giving speeches here. You's be 'sneezin to pollin somethin'."

"Well, I guess pollen doesn't bother me as much." He deadpanned with a dark expression on his face. He tightened his arms around his legs while in his crouch position. Gods, he hated this place. He swore he felt a brain cell scream for mercy as it slowly withered away every time he had to listen to one of the idiots here. Was this really the place where the higher ranked criminals go? How dare he be grouped up with these injudicious convicts!

"Well, Dad. I'm sure I can solve this case, and probably even get it done by the end of the weekend, if you let me go to the last place she was seen." Light offered with confidence.

"Amane was last seen at the La Salmonella in Shinjuku. She was having dinner with her manager and shortly after they ordered, Amane excused herself to the washroom and never came back." Soichiro sighed, "We can go there tomorrow morning, preferably before your mother and sister wake up."

"Dad, could we at least stay for breakfast? Mom already made plans to make a special breakfast for you." Light asked, playing the good and thoughtful son.

"We'll see. As long as nothing comes up, we can eat breakfast with them." He gave his son a reassuring smile, and Light saw the weariness in those eyes. Light wished his father a heart felt goodnight, Soichiro repaying in kind, and then the two left for their separate rooms.

At the top of the stairs, Sayu let out a little '_yes'_ as she went up to her own base of operation, aka. Sayu's Room. Heh heh, they didn't even catch her eavesdropping. She was so damn sneaky.

Little did she know, Light knew she was there the whole time. Before he went to his own bedroom, he stopped by Sayu's first, and knocked on her door. He was dead set on getting her to confess, just for the hell of it.

He heard her yawn on the other side, "yes?"

Light rolled his eyes. If it was anyone but himself, that tired voice would've fooled him in to thinking she was just waking up from a nap. "Sayu, can I come in?"

Another yawn, "sure."

Light walked in and saw his little sister laying in her suspiciously neatly made bed. So neat it was as though she just jumped in recently, possibly just moments ago. And another thing, "So…" He paused dramatically, "do you always sleep fully clothed?" He asked as he pulled the comforter off his sister's body in an 'ah-hah!' moment. She shrieked and attempted to pull the blanket back, but wasn't quick enough. As the blanket was off, it was revealed that Sayu was fully clothed. Not a hint of those pj's anywhere.

"Light! How inappropriate! What if I were naked under there?!" She said in a horrified hiss. Tch, when Light looked, even her hair was still nicely brushed. Had he really not taught her anything about misconception? Well, he was always busy studying, but still. He had to of at least rubbed off on her in some little way!

"Hardly," He scoffed. "I could see your socks from the end of your bed."

"Maybe I like to sleep with my socks on." She challenged. "JUST my socks."

Light liked to pretend he didn't hear that part, and deleted most of that conversation from his head. "So, did you enjoy listening in to my conversation with Dad?" He questioned with a tap of the foot and the crossing of the arms.

Sayu was silent for a moment before letting her eyes drft to the side, "What conversation?" she answered slowly.

Light smiled in a brotherly way, totally an act, but it still worked, "You know. And even if you didn't know, you would know." He spoke with a brotherly sigh. "Honestly, Sayu. Is it so hard to try convince me?"

Sayu stuck her tongue out, "I'm sure I could convince you if I needed to." She then stood up and stretched, as though she were still pretending to be tired. "But aside from that, what do you mean that I would know if I didn't know?"

"Dad mentioned, in front of the whole family, that he wanted to talk to me. You were present at this moment in time drinking water. There was no way you didn't hear Dad say anything about him wanting to talk to me after dinner." Light then pointed a finger towards his sister, "In other words, even if you didn't know what conversation I was talking about, you would still know!"

A gust of wind blew Sayu's hair around as she was hit with contradicting holes in her story. She shrieked and held herself while shouting, "Noooooo!"

Light smirked, "So what do you have to say now, Little Miss Yagami?" he flipped his hair in a menacing way, "Are you ready to confess?"

"…"

"…"

"Oh, I just heard you wrong. You mean THAT conversation with Dad." Sayu smiled politely, but then stuck her tongue out, "Okay, I confess. I heard everything."

Light smiled triumphantly as he went to sit on his sister bed, then motioned her to join him. She sat warily, keeping her eyes on Light the whole while. "So you know what I'm going to say, right?"

Sayu groaned, "If this is anything like the 'how babies are born' talk, then please don't."

"Not at all."

"Or the Santa Claus one."

"Right."

"Or about my unhealthy obsession with pop idols."

"Hmm."

"Or when I started a fire in your room."

"…"

"Or when you helped me hide my dead rabbit."

"Sayu."

"Or about those toys you foun-"

"_Sayu_!" his hand clamped down on his sister's mouth in hopes that she would stop talking. "Look, I was just going to tell you that you can't tell anyone, alright? I know how you're all about pop idols, but-"

Sayu shook her brothers hand off with a disgusted look on her face, "I'm not exactly a Misanator. You _should_ know I'm a Ryuger."

"Pardon?"

"Amane Misa's fans are called 'Misanator's' and Ryuga Hideki fans are called 'Ryugers'. Really, Light. Get with the times. You're never going to get a girlfriend if you don't even know what fans call themselves." Sayu sighed and shook her head with a smile, "Maybe I should tutor you sometime."

Light scoffed, "Yeah, that'll happen the day world peace comes into play."

Sayu gave Light a questioning glance, "Talk about having a negative outlook on life."

"More like a realistic outlook." He said. "Anyways, just don't tell anyone about what you heard. It's supposed to be confidential information."

"You got it." She confirmed with a sullen look.

He turned while he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Good night, Sayu." He then walked out of the room.

"G'Night, Light." Sayu rhymed awkwardly in English as her brother closed the door and switched the switch off, leaving her without light.


End file.
